a bona fide destiny
by inactive forever babe
Summary: "With this Circle of Light, I seal the Circle of Life," she said, trying to fit the pieces together only for them to topple and fall apart. "With this Circle of Light, I seal the Circle of Life," Nina said again, voice pitching in desperation. Nothing. She whirled around to face them, green eyes glassy with frustration. "Why isn't it working?" / S1 AU (late HOA One-Shot day)


_**Okay so this was something I wrote a while back based on a concept brought up in a ****groupchat****, so I thought I'd post it here now in honor of the HOA one-shot day of 2019.**_

_**I'm literally going to college next year wow. SO much has changed. If any old friends read this, hello. This is dedicated to you. I sometimes wish things were back the way they were, but I guess that's all said and done. Anyway, Sibuna! Enjoy the story.**_

_**It's an AU of the show in which Nina isn't the Chosen One. Set right after they escape the poisonous flies and try to build the Cup of Ankh in Season 1.**_

* * *

It was Nina. It had to be Nina. If Joy wasn't the Chosen One, who else could it possibly be but Nina Martin, Sibuna's fearless leader? _And yet…_

Patricia could feel Joy's fingernails digging hard into her bare arm and Fabian's tense hand clamped tightly on her shoulder as they, along with Jerome, Alfie, and Amber, watched Nina attempt to assemble the cup.

_"With this Circle of Light, I seal the Circle of Life,"_ she said, trying to fit the pieces together only for them to topple and fall apart. _"With this Circle of Light, I seal the Circle of Life,"_ Nina said again, voice pitching in desperation. Nothing. She whirled around to face them, green eyes glassy with frustration. "Why isn't it working? Fabian?"

Fabian opened and shut his mouth soundlessly, looking helpless, and Joy deflated like a balloon against Patricia.

All eyes were on Nina Martin and none were on the figure creeping down the cellar steps until he'd wrapped his arm like a viper around Amber's abdomen. Amber shrieked in surprise, and Rufus pinned her to him, free hand held aloft in a fist, while an angry buzzing hummed inside of his grip.

"It's not working, Nina Martin, because _you_ are _not_ the Paragon," Rufus drawled and Amber thrashed around violently. Alfie made to rush him, but Rufus sneered, drifting his fist closer to Amber's ear. "I wouldn't take another step if I were you. In my hand, I have the queen. If you do not do as I ask, I will put it in this girl's ear, do you understand me." Amber's eyes were hazy with terror and Alfie was forced to take a step back, his face contorted in fury.

"H-How did you survive the flies?" Jerome asked, shaking with either fury or fear, Patricia couldn't discern.

Rufus laughed cruelly, shaking his fist with the queen inside; the buzzing grew furious. "Did you really think I wouldn't have exposed myself to the antidote beforehand, Jerome? You're far stupider than I thought."

Joy buried her face in Patricia's shoulder and Nina clutched the alchemy bench as though she might faint. Fabian, however, chose this moment to be brave.

"If Joy's not the Chosen One, and Nina's not the Chosen One, then who in the bloody hell is?" he spat, emboldened by his own fear.

_Don't antagonize the man with the deadly bug at his disposal, Fabian,_ Patricia thought, gritting her teeth. She watched Rufus curl his lip in a wolfish grin, and involuntarily shuddered in horror as he squeezed Amber hard enough for her to cry out.

"A very good question, boy," Rufus said. "One that took me longer to figure out the answer to than I care to admit." He paused, listening for a moment. His wicked smile turned into a satisfied smirk. "Why don't you tell them who your brave, little Chosen One is, _Victor?"_

Victor sighed heavily as he stepped from the shadows where he'd attempted to catch Rufus by surprise. "You've gone too far this time," Victor said gravely.

_"This time?"_ Patricia blurted before she could stop herself, and both men's gazes snapped in her direction. _You're officially a hypocrite,_ she groaned inwardly, as Rufus began to laugh.

"And she finally speaks!" he cried, blue eyes crazed. "Sarah always made those impulsive little comments, too, don't you remember, Victor?" Victor turned his face away in disgust. "To think, I'd had you in my grasp and I let you escape!"

Patricia could practically hear the gears turning in Fabian's head beside her, and Nina's ever intelligent gaze cut to her. "You're joking," Nina and Jerome breathed simultaneously.

Rufus shook his head gleefully. "Not at all!" he cheered. "Patricia Williamson, the Chosen One! Has a delightful ring to it, doesn't it? And, _oh,_ this man's pitiful 'Secret Society' didn't even clue you in! Oh, how rich."

"What the hell are you on about?" Patricia snapped, arm starting to go numb as Joy's grip impossibly tightened.

"Miss Williamson," Victor bit out. "You—"

"I _what?"_ Patricia cut in.

"Is it true, Victor?" Fabian asked.

Rufus chuckled sadistically and Victor slumped. "Yes," he said at last, and Rufus let out a whoop, still holding Amber. "We…We knew it was you from the beginning."

"Then why take Joy?" Jerome challenged, voice high pitched with disbelief. "Why take a fake Chosen One?"

"A red herring," Nina whispered, looking as though she'd cracked the code.

Victor shook his head. "Partly. Miss Williamson, we knew you'd put up too much of fight if we were to remove you from the school…we also knew, however, you'd pursue the mystery of Joy's disappearance." The world was beginning to tilt around her as she began to understand, and Patricia had to steady herself on Fabian. Was it just her or were the cellar walls getting tighter?

_"So_—So what? You just wanted to see me _spiral_ for months on end? I thought I was going mad and you all said _nothing!"_

"No," Victor said firmly, and Rufus looked as though he'd scored tickets to the hottest show in town. "We left you a trail to follow. We knew you'd catch on and get involved in a way more…beneficial to our cause." Victor almost sounded ashamed, but not quite. More defeated. "We just didn't expect the rest of you to catch on, too."

Alfie opened his mouth to breath fire, but Rufus beat him to the punch, throwing his head back to cackle like a hyena. "Well, you certainly made everything so much easier for me!"

Patricia was shaking her head, feeling impossibly overwhelmed. She couldn't feel her arm in Joy's death grip. "This is ridiculous. I'm no Chosen One." Was she?

Rufus leaned forward and Amber whimpered; Alfie trembled with untapped rage and it was all Jerome could do to keep him from attacking. "When is your birthday?"

"April 4th," she answered.

"What time?"

"I—I don't know…early." Her voice sounded hollow to her ears.

Rufus grinned triumphantly. "Four o'clock. _Four. Four. Four."_ He punctuated each number with a sharp click of his tongue. Rufus surged forward, half dragging Amber toward the table where the Ankh pieces lay, and Nina only just skittered out of the way. "Now," he continued, "make the Cup."

Finding strength, Patricia shook her head, if only to clear the fog. "No," she snapped, trying to steady her breathing.

Rufus chuckled low and dark. "I don't think you understand me. Make the Cup or the girl dies." When no one moved, Rufus clucked his tongue to the time of a clock. "Tick, tock, the choice is yours, Chosen One."

Of all the things Patricia had expected from the school year, this was not one of them. She'd never expected to find herself in a situation as dire as this with a bona fide destiny, no less. She wasn't supposed to be special. People like Patricia were not supposed to be Chosen Ones. People like Nina and Joy—they were Chosen Ones. And yet, here they were. Her eyes fell on the small metal scales on the table with all their names etched on little plates. Whatever she chose to do, someone would die that night.

_So much for it being the American._

Patricia took a deep, steadying breath and stepped up to meet the challenge.

* * *

_**I left it open-ended so you can all just theorize what goes down next. Hope you liked it, because all this proves to me is that I need to relearn how to write lmfao.**_


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